When weathering locomotives, rolling stock, and structures do you prefer to use powder or a wash? Do you ever use both techniques on the same item?
I guess we could put paint in the mix also although some might say that a wash is a type of paint.
Rick
I almost always start with an ink-alcohol wash, sometimes two applications if I want heavy weathering, followed by pastel powders, and sealed with Dullcote.
hbgatsfDo you ever use both techniques on the same item?
Yes.
I am still working on weathering techniques. Weathering definitely improved the "photographability" of my models, but I am not yet satisfied with my abilities.
This one has both powders and washes:
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
I think practice is the only key to working this out. I practiced on dozens of el-cheapo cars before working on the real fleet. Some of those practice cars turned out better than the real efforts.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I have been using AIM powders for years. As soon as I tried them, I was hooked. It's easy to use them lightly and sparingly, and it's usually possible to just rinse it all off and start again if I really mess up.
Powders require some "tooth" on the surface to hold well. I find that Dulcote or a flat clear coat like Krylon works well. When I do trucks on rolling stock, I l like to first spray them with a brown rust primer, after removing the wheelsets and maskng the axle openings. Then, a bit of rust powder sealed with Dulcote finishes the job.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Although I do not normally weather my rolling stock I have tried both wash and powders on a some items.
I prefer powders.
A parcels van was the first I did with powders. (Using old make-up powders Dawn was discarding.
IMG_5072 by David Harrison, on Flickr
My other parcels vans received the same treatment.
IMG_5493 by David Harrison, on Flickr
The Newspaper van did not escape.
IMG_5494 by David Harrison, on Flickr
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Kevin, NorthBrit........very good looking, realistic work .
Imho, modelers can't go wrong with either the powder or wash approach.
I've found the wash approach to be fun. I like the capillary action that results in the weathering getting into the tiny nooks and crannies of underframes and trucks; especially on passenger equipment. I use acrlylics and thin them with distilled water. I still have Pollyscale paints that I've had for years, but have found that most quality scale model acrylics work just fine. The recommendation from MRR staff, to use vertical strokes, is a good one to achieve the illusion of grime and dirt running downward from the effects of rain on prototype equipment.
For mixing vessels, discarded plastic pill trays and clear egg cartons work very well for me.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
For weathering, I've used paint, applied with a brush, airbrush, and as a wash, and also use oil-based pastels (rubbed over coarse sandpaper, then applied with a brush).While I often use all of those methods, I prefer the airbrushed applications, as I find control of it is easiest.I'd be hard pressed to identify which cars got which treatment or combinations of treatments, though...(click on the photos for a bigger image)
This was paint/re-paint, followed by scrape, then wash, followed by a little airbrush work...
...haven't found a home for it yet.
I do very little weathering on my locomotives, as I usually use five different versions of "black" on most of them, followed by a light overspray of "dirt"...
This one mostly airbrushed and pastels, was done for a friend who wanted to have a locomotive in it's last days of use...
...while this one, also done for a friend, was based on photos of the real one. It's mostly airbrushed, too, with perhaps a little application of pastels...
This one was much modified to match a specific prototype, and was painted only by airbrush...
As for structures, pretty-well all of them were done with an airbrush, many with mortar applications (pre-mixed drywall mud, applied "wet") then, once dried, rubbed clean, then a little weathering by airbrush and/or pastels.
This one's paint/mortar/wipe, followed by a wash and a little airbrush, too...
I've pretty-well lost one album of photobucket structure pictures, so I'll call this post done....for now, anyways.
Wayne